The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached a Cessna 525 A CJ 2+ Aircraft valued at Rs 30.91 crore belonging to Bhushan Airways Services Private Limited under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a cheating and bank fraud case. Total provisional attachments in this case stand at Rs 4,454.27 crore.Bhushan Airways Services Private Limited is a company controlled and owned by Sanjay Singal, former Managing Director of Bhushan Power & Steel Limited (BPSL). The attachment is part of ongoing ED investigations against BPSL and others, under PMLA).
Earlier, the ED had attached various immovable/movable assets valued at Rs. 4,423.36 crore (including residential/commercial properties at London, Mumbai and Delhi) in this case. The ED had initiated money laundering investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by CBI on April 5, 2019 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant provisions f the Prevention of Corruption Act against various suspects including BSPL, Sanjay Singal, the then MD BPSL and others for criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery for purpose of cheating, use of forged documents as genuine, falsification of accounts and criminal misconduct by public servant.
“The ED probe has revealed that Sanjay Singal generated ‘Proceeds of Crime’ through siphoning of loan funds from BPSL and layered it through various entities under his control and such proceeds of crime were used towards acquisition of the said Aircraft as well as for repayment of the bank loan taken for acquiring the said Aircraft,” the agency said in a statement.
The ED had earlier also filed a Prosecution Complaint (chargesheet) before the Special Court here against 25 accused and the court has already taken cognizance of the offence.